MENIFEE: Clerk says she recorded resident’s calls

The Menifee city clerk recorded two phone conversations with a resident activist without the residentâs knowledge, a violation of Californiaâs wiretapping law that could land the city employee in legal hot water.

In an email last week, City Clerk Kathy Bennett wrote that she recorded two calls with Anne Pica, a persistent and vocal city critic.

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In the message intended for City Manager Bill Rawlings and City Attorney Joseph Fletcher but accidentally sent to another citizen activist, Bennett asked whether she was allowed to use her phoneâs recording function without the callerâs knowledge.

âDo I have to notify the caller if I choose to use this, and if so under what circumstances â" every time or only if I want to use it in court!â Bennett wrote.

Bennett wrote that she recorded the calls because Pica âhad me on speakerphone with a group in the background and cheering her on to bully me.â

Bennett said in an interview Wednesday that the recordings are now deleted and were never shared with anyone. She didnât realize she was required to notify Pica of the taping and would not do it again.

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Pica said she was outraged and not at all comforted by the fact the recordings were deleted.

âShe should be fired,â Pica said Wednesday. âThis is absolutely outrageous that a public city employee is recording peopleâs conversations.â

Pica denied there ever was a phone call like the one Bennett described in her email.

California is known as a âtwo party consentâ state, in which a person cannot record a phone conversation unless all parties involved agree to be taped. Violation of the law is a misdemeanor that can carry up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

Pica said she forwarded the email to the Riverside County district attorneyâs office and planned to meet with a representative later this month. Spokesman John Hall said he could not confirm whether the office was reviewing the case.

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Laura Berend, a defense attorney and professor of law at the University of San Diego School of Law, said there is little ambiguity in the law. Essentially, one must be in law enforcement to record someone without asking consent, and even then there are pages and pages of guidelines, Berend said.

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